How does an 18-year-old get a credit history?
I’m 18, and I’m planning on renting a place with my boyfriend and his two friends, who are all 19. None of us have credit cards, therefore we have no credit history. We want to be in a place by this summer.
What can we do to get a credit history?
The place we’re looking at specifically says we need good credit. And it’s a house, not an apartment, because there are no apartments that suit our needs, so I think they’ll be a little wary of renting to under-20’s; the credit report is probably pretty important.
Get a credit card from local bank and pay it in time. You also can use this service to avoid common mistakes while buiding credit and pre-estimate future scores for different scenarios of payments – freecreditreport.sinfree.net
March, 3rd 2010 at 2:59 am
It takes time. first, get a macys star rewards card, pay on time, and get a cellphone, pay off student loans (if you have any), so companies see you have credit and are paying it off ON TIME. in 6 months you’ll have a student credit card, and soon, a real one.
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March, 3rd 2010 at 3:38 am
The answer to your question is "gradually."
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http://credit.about.com
March, 3rd 2010 at 4:26 am
First off get a low limit credit card use it and pay the bill, you could probably get one with a $500 limit. You could also have a parent co-sign a lease.
p.s. not a good idea for an 18 year old couple to sign a lease together unless you’ve been together for a while. If a disagreement comes up you will have no way out of a lease…backing out of a lease and not paying rent is a good way to ruin your credit.
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March, 3rd 2010 at 4:47 am
If you are trying to build credit you have to apply credit cards/ Store credit, car leases,phone and cable bills. If you get credit cards or store credit (something like the brick or Leon) buy something and pay the card right away. Do not apply for a lot of credit cards every time you apply for any credit (other than phone and cable internet,electric) shows on your credit report for many years. If you are having a hard time getting a credit card have a parent co-sign and after a few months you just call the company to remove their name.
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March, 3rd 2010 at 4:56 am
usually they will let you have a co signer, like a parent with good credit to be liable for the lease also. That is what they did for me, because i had no credit
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March, 3rd 2010 at 5:19 am
Since you are 18 your credit report history just now started.
Even if you got a credit card it would take a long time to show any history on your report that would benefit you.
Your typical landlord checks your credit report to see whether you owe a lot of money on credit cards and other loans. He is mainly interested to see whether you can actually afford to pay the rent. (Of course he will check for evictions, etc. too).
Offer your prospective landlord a really high security deposit and bring along your pay stubs to show that you make enough money to afford the place.
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March, 3rd 2010 at 5:29 am
Get a credit card from local bank and pay it in time. You also can use this service to avoid common mistakes while buiding credit and pre-estimate future scores for different scenarios of payments – freecreditreport.sinfree.net
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March, 3rd 2010 at 6:04 am
Unfortunately for you four, it takes time to build a credit history. My advice to you is to start now. You should all get a credit card of your own but don’t use it. Since people interested will be mainly considering bad things on your credit history, you can maintain perfect credit without having to spend. Of course, when you do actually want to use your credit, you’re limit will be low, but hey that’s true for anyone when they start out.
As for the house, you can try to see if they will let you have it based on past references. Have you ever lived in an apartment? How about a dorm? If so, you can ask your former renter, or RA, for a letter of reference.
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